Adaptive communication channel leg switching

ABSTRACT

A network node in a telecommunications network can measure a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device. The first communication channel can include an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT. The network node can further predict a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched to the second communication channel. The second communication channel can include an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT. The network node can further determine to switch the communication associated with the communication device to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput. The network node can switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is related to wireless communication systems and more particularly to adaptive communication channel leg switching.

BACKGROUND

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a 5th Generation (“5G”) network including a 5G base station (“gNB”) 102 and multiple communication devices 104 (also referred to as user equipment (“UE”)).

As a greater number of users are obtaining new radio (“NR”) premium subscriptions, end user throughput and latency are being required to have better and more reliable performance. Once a user successfully performs a secondary cell group (“SCG”) addition, downlink (“DL”) user plane (“UP”) switching is enabled in response to varying NR radio quality. In some examples, at the onset of NR session, the DL protocol data units (“PDUs”) are sent over a NR leg of the split data radio bearer (“DRB”). Based on link adaptation measurements by the gNB, the NR leg or a long term evolution (“LTE”) leg of the split DRB is chosen for user data transmission.

This switching decision is based completely on NR link quality. In some examples, the LTE network may be loaded with native 4th Generation (“4G”) subscribers or the experienced LTE leg quality may be poorer than the experienced NR leg quality. In these examples, DL switching from the NR leg to the LTE leg of the split DRB will severely impact end user perception due to degraded DL user throughput.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments, a method of operating a network node in a telecommunications network is provided. The method can include measuring a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device operating in the telecommunications network. The first communication channel can include an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT. The method can further include predicting a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel. The second communication channel can include an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT. The method can further include determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput. The method can further include, responsive to determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device, switching the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.

According to other embodiments, a network node, computer program, and/or computer program product is provided for performing the above method.

In various embodiments described herein, user experience can be improved by adaptively determining when to switch between communication channels. In some embodiments, throughput performance in new radio non-standalone (“NR NSA”) deployment can be increased by retaining downlink packet flow over secondary cell group (“SCG”) resources when long term evolution (“LTE”) is congested and limited master cell group (“MCG”) resources are available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a 5^(th) generation (“5G”) network;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of stages of downlink LTE-NR leg switching procedure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of downlink user plane switching procedure;

FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of downlink leg switching procedure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a downlink leg switching procedure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a downlink leg switching procedure that includes predicting a throughput associated with the second communication channel in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a radio access network (“RAN”) node in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a core network (“CN”) node in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a table illustrating examples of channel-quality measurements that may be used in predicting a throughput associated with the second communication channel in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in another embodiment.

After successful evolved terrestrial radio access network (“E-UTRAN”) new radio (“NR”) dual connectivity (“EN-DC”) connection, an established secondary node terminated split data radio bearer (“DRB”) can use NR packet data convergence protocol (“PDCP”) resources. Downlink (“DL”) traffic can be transmitted through the gNodeB using secondary cell group (“SCG”) SCG resources. However, the further use of SCG resources, master cell group (“MCG”) resources, or the combination of the two can be determined based on NR link quality and protocol data unit (“PDU”) buffer age.

If the NR link quality falls below a configured threshold, DL traffic can be redirected to use MCG resources for the split DRB. The switch can also be triggered if channel quality indicator (“CQI”) reports are not received successfully from the communication device (also referred to herein as a user equipment (“UE”)). Any unsent data can be forwarded to the eNodeB for transmission. If the UE has more than one SN terminated split DRB, they can all be switched at the same time and use the same MCG downlink resources.

The functionality is implemented in two parts, one located in user plane control (“UPC”) function and one in PDCP Master in gNB.

FIG. 2 illustrates the stages followed during a DL switch. At block 210, the MCG DL PDU is transmitted over a first communication channel having a first radio access technology (“RAT”), here LTE. This can be before NSA SCG addition. A S1 user plane external interface (“51-U”) can be an air interface on an eNB.

A network node can transition from block 210 to block 220 by successful addition of a SCG. The S1-U can be switched from eNB to gNB and gNB split DRB over LTE and NR leg is established. At block 220, SN term SCG split DL PDU is transmitted over a second communication channel having a second RAT, here NR. In some examples, a UPC function can continuously request CSI reports defined by numCqiMeasurements containing CQI, further using Link adaptation functionality within operator configurable parameter cqiPeriodicity, calculate the current DL ICC/efficiency for the PSCell defined as ICCachievable.

${{ICC}{or}{Efficiency}} = {\frac{{TBS} + {CRC}}{N_{RE}} = {{Bits}{Per}{symbol}X{CodeRate}}}$

This can be converted to NR SINRcurrent, which can be compared with configurable NR quality thresholds. An endcDINrLowQualThresh can refer to an acceptable bad NR quality (CQI/SINR) before switching to LTE is desirable. An endcDINrQualHyst can refer to a hysteresis for switching back to/from LTE. An endcDINrRetProhibTimer can refer to a timer to prohibit multiple leg changes in short period

In some examples, if UPC determines that the link quality has become poor (e.g., NR SINRcurrent<endcDINrLowQualThresh), the UPC can send an indication to PDCP Master in gNB to switch DL packet flow from NR to LTE leg (e.g., from block 220 to block 230). At block 230, the SN term SCG split DL PDU can be transmitted over LTE. In some examples, if NR link quality improves (e.g., NR SINRcurrent>endcDINrLowQualThresh+endcDINrQualHyst), a PDCP master may switch DL packet flow from LTE to NR leg (e.g., from block 230 to block 220). In additional or alternative examples, the switch may only be performed after expiration of a timer (e.g., expiration of endcDINrRetProhibTimber).

During a DL LTE-NR leg switch, a PDCP master, PDCP proxy, UPC function, L2 in NR, and L2 in LTE may have different roles. In some examples, the PDCP master may request Flush (Poll) of queue in LTE when switching from LTE. The PDCP master may also receive NR quality messages from NR L2 and filter with timer to prohibit repeated changes to NR. The PDCP master may also direct DL data flow to NR v/s LTE based on NR coverage messages (e.g., define leg as active/inactive). The PDCP master may also queue handling after making a DL leg inactive. For example, the PDCP master may fetch unsent frames from lower layer and re-submit on active leg. The PDCP master may also adapt flow control on both legs.

In additional or alternative examples, the PDCP proxy may handle flushing when switching from LTE.

In additional or alternative examples, the UPC function may order CQI measurements.

In additional or alternative examples, the L2 in NR may perform NR quality measurements and DL CQI measurements when no data is present in either UL or DL NR leg. The L2 in NR may also detect and supervise missing CQI reports and configure quality thresholds.

In additional or alternative examples, the L2 in LTE may empty queue of unsent messages at flush (poll) request.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a DL UP switching over time. An EN-DC capable UE under NR coverage can establish a successful EN-DC connection by SCG addition. Once SN terminated split DRB is established, a DL packet flow can be received by the UE via NR leg of the split DRB. In some examples, a DL switch to LTE leg of split DRB can occur when gNB UPC computed NR SINR is less than a predetermined threshold (e.g., endcDINrLowQualThresh).

Initially, at time 301, when an SN Terminated Split DRB is established (for example due to reception of a B1 measurement report), the downlink user plane uses SCG (NR) resources. The SCG resources continue to be used while the NR DL SINR remains above the predefined threshold.

When the NR DL SINR falls below endcDINrLowQualThresh, at time 302, an immediate switch to the MCG (LTE) resources is triggered. This switch can also be triggered if CQI reports are not received successfully from the UE. Any unsent data can be forwarded to the eNodeB for transmission.

Even if the NR DL SINR becomes acceptable again (above endcDINrLowQualThresh+endcDINrQualHyst), at time 303, a switch back to the SCG (NR) resources may not occur until the prohibit timer expires.

When the endcDINrRetProhibTimer expires, at time 304, and if NR DL SINR remains acceptable, a switch back to the SCG (NR) resources is triggered. Any unsent data is forwarded to the gNodeB for transmission.

FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram that illustrates an example of message transactions between a PDCP master 404, a PDCP proxy 402, and respective RLC entities (enB RLC 401 and gNB RLC 408) after UPC (here gNB UPCDL 406).

At block 410, PDCP master 404 transmits DL packet flow to the gNB user plane control-downlink (“UPCDL”) 406. At block 415, the gNB UPCDL 406 transmits the DL packets on the NR leg to the UE 409.

At block 420, the gNB UPCDL 406 sends DL coverage indication as Low CQI or no CQI measurements to the PDCP master 404 and at block 425, the gNB RLC 408 transmits a delivery failure report to the PDCP master 404.

At block 430, the PDCP Master 404 halts the DL packet flow over the NR leg and, at block 435, receives the packets in PDU queue from gNB RLC 408, which were not sent to UE 409. At block 440, the RLC NR seq number can be adapted to last sent on NR.

At block 445, the gNB UPCDL 406 retransmits DL packets sent to UE 409 but that were not acknowledged.

At blocks 450, 455, 460, 465, and 470, PDCP master 404 triggers the switch of DL packet flow from PDCP master 404 to UE 409 via PDCP proxy 402 and eNB RLC 401.

Post reset of an endcDINrRetProhibTimer, gNB UPCDL 406 computes the NR downlink quality and compares with summation of configurable thresholds, endcDINrLowQualThresh and endcDINrQualHyst. If NR quality is poor, PDCP master 404 continues DL Packet flow over eNB RLC 401.

At blocks 475, 480, and 485 if NR quality is good, PDCP master 404 moves the queue back to NR RLC 408. At block 490, PDCP master 404 sends a flush request to the PDCP proxy 402 to empty the queue of unsent messages. At block 492, the PDCP proxy 402 transmits downlink data delivery status (“DDDS”) Last acknowledged packet number to the PDCP master 404, which at block 494 ignores. At block 496, the eNB RLC 401 retransmits any packets sent to the UE 409 that were not acknowledged.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting an example of communication leg switching. At block 505, a network node is communicatively coupled to the UE via a MN terminated MCG bearer. At block 510, addition of an SCG may form a EN-DC connection between the network node and the UE. At block 515, DL data is scheduled to be transmit to the UE via a SN terminated SCG bearer. At block 525, the network node determines whether the NR DL SINR is below a predetermined quality threshold. If not, the network node continues to transmit to the UE via the SN terminated SCG bearer. If the NR DL SINR is below the predetermined quality threshold, then at block 575, the UE undergoes DL leg switch from NR to LTE. At block 580, the network node continues to transmit DL data to the UE via the SN terminated MCG bearer until a timer expires. In response to the timer expiring, at block 585, the UPC monitors and computes NR DL SINR. At block 590, the network node determines whether the NR DL SINR is equal to or exceeds the predetermined quality threshold. If not, the network node continues to communicate with the UE via the SN terminated MCG bearer. IF the NR DL SINR is equal to or exceeds the predetermined quality threshold, then at block 595, the UE undergoes DL leg switch from LTE to NR.

For a successful DL Leg switch to occur, the checks are only made over NR leg quality and the PDCP Master makes a blind switch to LTE leg (e.g., DL packet flow via eNB RLC). Due to no checks being made at the LTE end, in terms of link quality or available capacity, an end user achieved throughput might encounter considerable degradation due to inherent LTE network congestion and LTE carrier aggregation (“CA”) limitation due to EN-DC band combinations supported by UE.

Various embodiments herein introduce a session level adaptive switching where a machine learning model estimates and compares the “achievable” throughput of serving LTE anchor cell and NR secondary cell for an ongoing EN-DC session, considering DL data in buffer, cell load, UE's last reported CQI metrics, and additional session level system performance metrics.

If the NR throughput is a threshold amount better than the achievable LTE throughput, the PDCP master will not trigger DL switch to LTE leg of split DRB. The DL switch is only initiated if the estimated LTE throughput is better than or within a predetermined range of current NR throughput. This allows the network node to estimate the appropriate trigger point to switch DL packet flow from NR to LTE leg of split DRB while maintaining satisfactory end user performance.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a communication device 700 (also referred to as a mobile terminal, a mobile communication terminal, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a wireless terminal, mobile device, a wireless communication terminal, user equipment, UE, a user equipment node/terminal/device, etc.) configured to provide wireless communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. (Communication device 700 may be provided, for example, as discussed below with respect to wireless device 4110 of FIG. 12 .) As shown, communication device 700 may include an antenna 707 (e.g., corresponding to antenna 4111 of FIG. 12 ), and transceiver circuitry 701 (also referred to as a transceiver, e.g., corresponding to interface 4114 of FIG. 12 ) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with a base station(s) (e.g., corresponding to network node 4160 of FIG. 12 , also referred to as a RAN node) of a radio access network. Communication device 700 may also include processing circuitry 703 (also referred to as a processor, e.g., corresponding to processing circuitry 4120 of FIG. 12 ) coupled to the transceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 705 (also referred to as memory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4130 of FIG. 12 ) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 705 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 703 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 703 may be defined to include memory so that separate memory circuitry is not required. Communication device 700 may also include an interface (such as a user interface) coupled with processing circuitry 703, and/or communication device UE may be incorporated in a vehicle.

As discussed herein, operations of communication device 700 may be performed by processing circuitry 703 and/or transceiver circuitry 701. For example, processing circuitry 703 may control transceiver circuitry 701 to transmit communications through transceiver circuitry 701 over a radio interface to a radio access network node (also referred to as a base station) and/or to receive communications through transceiver circuitry 701 from a RAN node over a radio interface. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory circuitry 705, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 703, processing circuitry 703 performs respective operations.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a radio access network (“RAN”) node 800 (also referred to as a network node, base station, eNodeB/eNB, gNodeB/gNB, etc.) of a Radio Access Network (RAN) configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. (RAN node 800 may be provided, for example, as discussed below with respect to network node 4160 of FIG. 12 .) As shown, the RAN node 800 may include transceiver circuitry 801 (also referred to as a transceiver, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 of FIG. 12 ) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with mobile terminals. The RAN node 800 may include network interface circuitry 807 (also referred to as a network interface, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 of FIG. 12 ) configured to provide communications with other nodes (e.g., with other base stations) of the RAN and/or core network CN. The RAN node 800 may also include processing circuitry 803 (also referred to as a processor, e.g., corresponding to processing circuitry 4170) coupled to the transceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 805 (also referred to as memory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4180 of FIG. 12 ) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 805 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 803 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 803 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the RAN node 800 may be performed by processing circuitry 803, network interface 807, and/or transceiver 801. For example, processing circuitry 803 may control transceiver 801 to transmit downlink communications through transceiver 801 over a radio interface to one or more mobile terminals UEs and/or to receive uplink communications through transceiver 801 from one or more mobile terminals UEs over a radio interface. Similarly, processing circuitry 803 may control network interface 807 to transmit communications through network interface 807 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 805, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 803, processing circuitry 803 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to network nodes).

According to some other embodiments, a network node may be implemented as a core network CN node without a transceiver. In such embodiments, transmission to a wireless communication device UE may be initiated by the network node so that transmission to the wireless communication device UE is provided through a network node including a transceiver (e.g., through a base station or RAN node). According to embodiments where the network node is a RAN node including a transceiver, initiating transmission may include transmitting through the transceiver.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a core network (“CN”) node 900 (e.g., an SMF node, an AMF node, an AUSF node, a UDM node, etc.) of a communication network configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, the CN node 900 may include network interface circuitry 907 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of the core network and/or the RAN. The CN node 900 may also include a processing circuitry 903 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memory circuitry 905 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 905 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 903 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 903 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the CN node 900 may be performed by processing circuitry 903 and/or network interface circuitry 907. For example, processing circuitry 903 may control network interface circuitry 907 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 907 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 905, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 903, processing circuitry 903 performs respective operations.

In some embodiments, a network node (e.g., a RAN node or gNB) can have additional functionality triggered once a EN-DC connected UE has active DL PDUs over a NR leg of a SN terminated split DRB. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of additional operations that a network node can perform during a DL leg switch.

Similar to FIG. 5 , in blocks 505, 510, and 515 a SN terminated Split DRB can be setup. At block 520, the specific session can be monitored for various NR system level performance including NR DL Throughput and NR DL SINR. At block 525, the network node can determine whether the NR DL SINR falls below endcDINrLowQualThresh.

In response to determining that the network node can determine whether the NR DL SINR falls below endcDINrLowQualThresh, at block 640 the network node can estimate the NR throughput. In some examples, the network node can periodically monitor the current NR DL throughput.

In response to determining that the network node can also determine whether the NR DL SINR falls below endcDINrLowQualThresh, at block 650 an LTE throughput based evaluation is performed. In some examples, performance metrics may have been sampled and fed to a machine learning model for predicting the LTE achievable throughput.

In some embodiments, to predict achievable LTE DL throughput various LTE system performance metric, having high influence, are considered. To decide the suitable set of features multiple LTE system performance metrics observable through PM events can be captured and Chi-square scores and associated P-Values can be used to select specific metrics as suitable features. An intermediate filtering can also be applied to remove the records with very high variance. In some examples, a P-Value of 0.05 can be used as a threshold to reject the null hypothesis and decide a best set of features. Additional removal of features can be performed during a model tuning phase. FIG. 11 is a table illustrating an example of channel-quality measurements (or features) that may be used by a machine learning model (e.g., a Random Forest Regressor model) to train, tune, and predict the achievable LTE DL throughput.

Returning to FIG. 6 , at block 660, the network node can compare the estimated NR throughput with the estimated achievable LTE DL throughput. The comparison result yields a Boolean result based on following criteria:

${{LTE}{Throughput}{Evaluation}{Flag}} = {{Boolean}\left( {\frac{L_{thp}}{N_{thp}} \geq f_{thp}} \right)}$

where, Nthp is a monitored DL NR throughput of the ongoing session; Lthp is an estimated DL LTE throughput of the ongoing session; and fthp is a configurable threshold that determines the acceptable range of LTE throughput, suitable for initiating DL Leg Switch. Value of fthp can be in the range of [0.0, 0.1, 0.2 . . . , 0.9,1.0]. fthp=1 means, to initiate DL Leg switch, the achievable LTE throughput must be>=Nthp. With fthp=0.6, a 40% degradation of the Nthp can be allowed after DL Leg Switch. A possible recommendation can be fthp=0.70.

The above condition can ensure the integrity of the session and user experience while DL Switch happens from NR to LTE leg (e.g., using MCG resources of Split DRB instead of SCG resources).

Similar to FIG. 5 , in blocks 575, 580, 585, 590, and 595 the network node can perform a DL switch from NR to LTE and then after the NR DL SINR exceeds a predetermined threshold perform another DL switch from LTE to NR.

in response to determining that the network node can determine whether the NR DL SINR falls below endcDINrLowQualThresh, at block 640 the network node can estimate the NR throughput. In some examples, the network node can periodically monitor the current NR DL throughput.

The additional operations illustrated in FIG. 6 can minimize frequent DL switching to LTE leg of split DRB and therefore maximize NR session duration. Machine learning based algorithms can use a federated model to increase accuracy of estimation of the throughput performance that could be achieved over LTE considering anchor cell's ongoing load and radio conditions. Switching trigger points can be determined by the same model per session and optimized based on the operating condition of a given session. In some embodiments, informed decision of DL switch from NR to LTE leg can improve end user perception and improved session integrity.

Operations of a network node will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 10 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. FIG. 10 will be described below as being performed by RAN node 800 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of FIG. 8 ). For example, modules may be stored in memory 805 of FIG. 8 , and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective processing circuitry 803, processing circuitry 803 performs respective operations of the flow chart. However, the operations in FIG. 8 may be performed by any suitable network node.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of adaptive communication channel leg switching. At block 1010, processing circuitry 803 transmits, via transceiver 801, downlink data to a communication device (e.g., communication device 700) via a first communication channel. In some embodiments, both the network node and the communication device are operating in a telecommunications network.

At block 1020, processing circuitry 803 measures a downlink signal quality associated with the first communication channel. In some embodiments, the downlink signal quality is an estimation of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (“SINR”).

At block 1030, processing circuitry 803 determines that the downlink signal quality is below a predetermined threshold quality.

At block 1040, processing circuitry 803 measures a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and the communication device. In some embodiments, measuring the first throughput is performed in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality. In additional or alternative embodiments, the first communication channel includes an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology (“RAT”).

At block 1050, processing circuitry 803 predicts a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device. In some embodiments, predicting the second throughput is performed in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality. In additional or alternative embodiments, processing circuitry 803 predicts the second throughput associated with the second communication channel as if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel. In additional or alternative embodiments, the second communication channel includes an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT. The second RAT may be the same or different from the first RAT associated with the first communication channel. In some examples, the telecommunications network is a 5^(th) Generation (“5G”) network with dual connectivity capabilities, the first RAT is a new radio (“NR”) technology and the second RAT is a long term evolution (“LTE”) technology.

In some embodiments, predicting the second throughput includes determining operating conditions of the network node and inputting the operating conditions into a machine learning model that outputs the second throughput. The machine learning model can be any suitable machine learning model including, for example, a random forest regressor model. In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the operating conditions of the network node include receiving a message from the communication device. The message can include first channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel such as channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements. In some examples, the first channel-quality measurements include at least one of a reference signal receive power (“RSRP”), reference signal received quality (“RSRQ”), and a channel quality indicator (“CQI”) of the first communication channel.

In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the operating conditions of the network node include determining second channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel based on communication with the communication device via the first communication channel. The second channel-quality measurements can include channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements. In some examples, the second channel-quality measurements include any of the features listed in FIG. 11 . In additional or alternative examples, the second channel-quality measurements include at least one of: a channel quality indicator, CQI; an uplink, UL, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; a ratio of transport blocks, TBs, on media access control, MAC, level scheduled in UL where the communication device was considered to be power limited to total number of TBs on MAC level scheduled in uplink; a reference signal received quality, RSRQ; a ratio of downlink, DL, physical resource block, PRB, usage to total available DL PRBs; a ratio of unsuccessful DL hybrid automatic repeat requests, HARQ, to a total number of DL HARQ; a ratio of unsuccessful UL HARQ, to a total number of UL HARQ; a reference signal receive power, RSRP; a ratio of unsuccessful UL radio link control, RLC, protocol data units, PDUs, to a total number of UL RLC PDUs; a ratio of UL PRB to a total available UL PRBs; a volume share of DL data for the communication device; a volume share of UL data from the communication device; a timing advance associated with the communication device; an UL RLC retransmission, RTX, intensity; a ratio of a volume of UL packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, data to a volume of DL PDCP data; a ratio of unsuccessful DL RLC PDUs to a total number of DL RLS PCUs; and a DL RLC RTX intensity.

In additional or alternative embodiments, the operating conditions of the network can be determined based on the first channel-quality measurements and/or the second channel-quality measurements.

At block 1060, processing circuitry 803 determines to switch communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel. In some embodiments, determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device includes determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

In additional or alternative embodiments, determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device includes determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput, determining a threshold value based on the downlink signal quality (e.g., SINR), and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding the threshold value.

At block 1070, processing circuitry 803 switches the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Various operations of FIG. 10 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of network nodes and related methods. Regarding the method of Example Embodiment 1 below, for example, operations of blocks 1010, 1020 and 1030 of FIG. 10 may be optional.

Example Embodiments are included below.

Embodiment 1. A method of operating a network node in a telecommunications network, the method comprising:

-   -   measuring (1040) a first throughput associated with a first         communication channel between the network node and a         communication device operating in the telecommunications         network, the first communication channel comprising an active         communication channel that uses a first radio access technology,         RAT;     -   predicting (1050) a second throughput associated with a second         communication channel between the network node and the         communication device if communication associated with the         communication device was switched from the first communication         channel to the second communication channel, the second         communication channel comprising an inactive communication         channel that uses a second RAT;     -   determining (1060) to switch the communication associated with         the communication device from the first communication channel to         the second communication channel based on the first throughput         and the second throughput; and     -   responsive to determining to switch the communication associated         with the communication device, switching (1070) the         communication associated with the communication device from the         first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Embodiment 2. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein predicting the second throughput comprises:

-   -   determining operating conditions of the network node; and     -   inputting the operating conditions into a machine learning model         that outputs the second throughput.

Embodiment 3. The method of Embodiment 2, wherein the machine learning model is a random forest regressor model.

Embodiment 4. The method of Embodiment 2, wherein determining the operating conditions of the network node comprises:

-   -   receiving a message from the communication device, the message         including first channel-quality measurements of the first         communication channel, the first channel-quality measurements         including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel         integrity related measurements;     -   determining second channel-quality measurements of the first         communication channel based on communication with the         communication device via the first communication channel, the         second channel-quality measurements including channel coverage,         channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; and     -   determining the operating conditions of the network based on the         first channel-quality measurements and the second         channel-quality measurements.

Embodiment 5. The method of Embodiment 4, wherein the first channel-quality measurements include at least one of a reference signal receive power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; and channel quality indicator, CQI of the first communication channel.

Embodiment 6. The method of any of Embodiments 4-5, wherein the second channel-quality measurements include at least one of:

-   -   a channel quality indicator, CQI;     -   an uplink, UL, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR;     -   a ratio of transport blocks, TBs, on media access control, MAC,         level scheduled in UL where the communication device was         considered to be power limited to total number of TBs on MAC         level scheduled in uplink;     -   a reference signal received quality, RSRQ;     -   a ratio of downlink, DL, physical resource block, PRB, usage to         total available DL PRBs;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful DL hybrid automatic repeat requests,         HARQ, to a total number of DL HARQ;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful UL HARQ, to a total number of UL HARQ;     -   a reference signal receive power, RSRP;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful UL radio link control, RLC, protocol         data units, PDUs, to a total number of UL RLC PDUs; a ratio of         UL PRB to a total available UL PRBs;     -   a volume share of DL data for the communication device;     -   a volume share of UL data from the communication device;     -   a timing advance associated with the communication device;     -   an UL RLC retransmission, RTX, intensity;     -   a ratio of a volume of UL packet data convergence protocol,         PDCP, data to a volume of DL PDCP data;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful DL RLC PDUs to a total number of DL RLS         PCUs; and     -   a DL RLC RTX intensity.

Embodiment 7. The method of any of Embodiment 1-6, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises:

-   -   determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first         throughput; and     -   determining to switch the communication associated with         communication device from the first communication channel to the         second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding a         predetermined threshold value.

Embodiment 8. The method of any of Embodiments 1-7, further comprising:

-   -   transmitting (1010) downlink data to the communication device         via the first communication channel;     -   responsive to transmitting the downlink data, measuring (1020) a         downlink signal quality associated with the first communication         channel; and     -   responsive to measuring the downlink signal quality, determining         (1030) that the downlink signal quality is below a predetermined         threshold quality,     -   wherein measuring the first throughput comprises measuring the         first throughput in response to determining that the downlink         signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality, and     -   wherein predicting the second throughput comprises predicting         the second throughput in response to determining that the         downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold         quality.

Embodiment 9. The method of Embodiment 8, wherein the downlink signal quality comprises an estimation of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR,

-   -   wherein determining to switch the communication associated with         the communication device comprises:         -   determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first             throughput;         -   determining a threshold value based on the SINR; and         -   determining to switch the communication associated with             communication device from the first communication channel to             the second communication channel based on the ratio             exceeding the threshold value.

Embodiment 10. The method of any of Embodiments 1-9, wherein the network node is a radio access network node, RAN node,

-   -   wherein the telecommunications network comprises a 5th         generation, 5G, network with dual connectivity capability,     -   wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT,     -   wherein the first RAT is a new radio, NR, technology, and     -   wherein the second RAT is a long term evolution, LTE,         technology.

Embodiment 11. The method of any of Embodiments 1-9, wherein the first RAT is the same as the second RAT.

Embodiment 12. A network node (300) operating in a telecommunications network, the network node comprising:

-   -   processing circuitry (803); and     -   memory (805) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the         memory includes instructions that when executed by the         processing circuitry causes the network node to perform         operations, the operations comprising:     -   measuring (1040) a first throughput associated with a first         communication channel between the network node and a         communication device operating in the telecommunications         network, the first communication channel comprising an active         communication channel that uses a first radio access technology,         RAT;     -   predicting (1050) a second throughput associated with a second         communication channel between the network node and the         communication device if communication associated with the         communication device was switched from the first communication         channel to the second communication channel, the second         communication channel comprising an inactive communication         channel that uses a second RAT;     -   determining (1060) to switch the communication associated with         the communication device from the first communication channel to         the second communication channel based on the first throughput         and the second throughput; and     -   responsive to determining to switch the communication associated         with the communication device, switching (1070) the         communication associated with the communication device from the         first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Embodiment 13. The network node of Embodiment 12, wherein predicting the second throughput comprises:

-   -   determining operating conditions of the network node; and     -   inputting the operating conditions into a machine learning model         that outputs the second throughput.

Embodiment 14. The network node of Embodiment 13, wherein the machine learning model is a random forest regressor model.

Embodiment 15. The network node of Embodiment 13, wherein determining the operating conditions of the network node comprises:

-   -   receiving a message from the communication device, the message         including first channel-quality measurements of the first         communication channel, the first channel-quality measurements         including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel         integrity related measurements;     -   determining second channel-quality measurements of the first         communication channel based on communication with the         communication device via the first communication channel, the         second channel-quality measurements including channel coverage,         channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; and     -   determining the operating conditions of the network based on the         first channel-quality measurements and the second         channel-quality measurements.

Embodiment 16. The network node of Embodiment 15, wherein the first channel-quality measurements include at least one of a reference signal receive power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; and channel quality indicator, CQI of the first communication channel.

Embodiment 17. The network node of any of Embodiments 15-16, wherein the second channel-quality measurements include at least one of:

-   -   a channel quality indicator, CQI;     -   an uplink, UL, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR;     -   a ratio of transport blocks, TBs, on media access control, MAC,         level scheduled in UL where the communication device was         considered to be power limited to total number of TBs on MAC         level scheduled in uplink;     -   a reference signal received quality, RSRQ;     -   a ratio of downlink, DL, physical resource block, PRB, usage to         total available DL PRBs;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful DL hybrid automatic repeat requests,         HARQ, to a total number of DL HARQ;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful UL HARQ, to a total number of UL HARQ;     -   a reference signal receive power, RSRP;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful UL radio link control, RLC, protocol         data units, PDUs, to a total number of UL RLC PDUs; a ratio of         UL PRB to a total available UL PRBs;     -   a volume share of DL data for the communication device;     -   a volume share of UL data from the communication device;     -   a timing advance associated with the communication device;     -   an UL RLC retransmission, RTX, intensity;     -   a ratio of a volume of UL packet data convergence protocol,         PDCP, data to a volume of DL PDCP data;     -   a ratio of unsuccessful DL RLC PDUs to a total number of DL RLS         PCUs; and     -   a DL RLC RTX intensity.

Embodiment 18. The network node of any of Embodiment 12-17, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises:

-   -   determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first         throughput; and     -   determining to switch the communication associated with         communication device from the first communication channel to the         second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding a         predetermined threshold value.

Embodiment 19. The network node of any of Embodiments 12-18, the operations further comprising:

-   -   transmitting (1010) downlink data to the communication device         via the first communication channel;     -   responsive to transmitting the downlink data, measuring (1020) a         downlink signal quality associated with the first communication         channel; and     -   responsive to measuring the downlink signal quality, determining         (1030) that the downlink signal quality is below a predetermined         threshold quality,     -   wherein measuring the first throughput comprises measuring the         first throughput in response to determining that the downlink         signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality, and     -   wherein predicting the second throughput comprises predicting         the second throughput in response to determining that the         downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold         quality.

Embodiment 20. The network node of Embodiment 19, wherein the downlink signal quality comprises an estimation of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR,

-   -   wherein determining to switch the communication associated with         the communication device comprises:         -   determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first             throughput;         -   determining a threshold value based on the SINR; and         -   determining to switch the communication associated with             communication device from the first communication channel to             the second communication channel based on the ratio             exceeding the threshold value.

Embodiment 21. The network node of any of Embodiments 12-20, wherein the network node is a radio access network node, RAN node,

-   -   wherein the telecommunications network comprises a 5th         generation, 5G, network with dual connectivity capability,     -   wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT,     -   wherein the first RAT is a new radio, NR, technology, and     -   wherein the second RAT is a long term evolution, LTE,         technology.

Embodiment 22. The network node of any of Embodiments 12-20, wherein the first RAT is the same as the second RAT.

Embodiment 23. A network node (800) operating in a telecommunications network, the operations comprising:

-   -   measuring (1040) technology a first throughput associated with a         first communication channel between the network node and a         communication device operating in the telecommunications         network, the first communication channel comprising an active         communication channel that uses a first radio access, RAT;     -   predicting (1050) a second throughput associated with a second         communication channel between the network node and the         communication device if communication associated with the         communication device was switched from the first communication         channel to the second communication channel, the second         communication channel comprising an inactive communication         channel that uses a second RAT;     -   determining (1060) to switch the communication associated with         the communication device from the first communication channel to         the second communication channel based on the first throughput         and the second throughput; and     -   responsive to determining to switch the communication associated         with the communication device, switching (1070) the         communication associated with the communication device from the         first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Embodiment 24. The network node of Embodiment 23 adapted to perform according to any of Embodiments 2-11.

Embodiment 25. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (803) of a network node (800) operating in a telecommunications network, whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations comprising:

-   -   measuring (1040) a first throughput associated with a first         communication channel between the network node and a         communication device operating in the telecommunications         network, the first communication channel comprising an active         communication channel that uses a first radio access technology,         RAT;     -   predicting (1050) a second throughput associated with a second         communication channel between the network node and the         communication device if communication associated with the         communication device was switched from the first communication         channel to the second communication channel, the second         communication channel comprising an inactive communication         channel that uses a second RAT;     -   determining (1060) to switch the communication associated with         the communication device from the first communication channel to         the second communication channel based on the first throughput         and the second throughput; and     -   responsive to determining to switch the communication associated         with the communication device, switching (1070) the         communication associated with the communication device from the         first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Embodiment 26. The computer program of Embodiment 25 whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations according to any of Embodiments 2-11.

Embodiment 27. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (803) of a network node (800) operating in a telecommunications network, whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations comprising:

-   -   measuring (1040) a first throughput associated with a first         communication channel between the network node and a         communication device operating in the telecommunications         network, the first communication channel comprising an active         communication channel that uses a first radio access technology,         RAT;     -   predicting (1050) a second throughput associated with a second         communication channel between the network node and the         communication device if communication associated with the         communication device was switched from the first communication         channel to the second communication channel, the second         communication channel comprising an inactive communication         channel that uses a second RAT;     -   determining (1060) to switch the communication associated with         the communication device from the first communication channel to         the second communication channel based on the first throughput         and the second throughput; and     -   responsive to determining to switch the communication associated         with the communication device, switching (1070) the         communication associated with the communication device from the         first communication channel to the second communication channel.

Embodiment 28. The computer program product of Embodiment 27, whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations according to any of Embodiments 2-11.

Some abbreviations used above are described below.

Abbreviation Explanation BLER Block Error Rate CQI Channel Quality Indicator DRB Data Radio Bearer DTX Discontinuous Transmission EN-DC EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity ICC Information carrying capacity IP Internet Protocol LTE Long Term Evolution MAC Medium Access Control MCG Master Cell Group MeNB Master eNodeB ML Machine Learning MN Master Node NR New Radio NSA Non-Standalone PCell Primary Cell PDCP Packet data convergence Protocol PDU Protocol Data Unit PSCell Primary Secondary Cell PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RLC Radio Link Control RLF Radio Link Failure RRC Radio Resource Control RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality SCell Secondary Cell SCG Secondary Cell Group SgNB Secondary gNodeB SINR Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio SN Secondary Node TA Timing Advance TBS Transport Block size TCP Transmission Control Protocol UPC User plane control MAE Mean Absolute Error RMSE Root Mean Squared Error

Additional explanation is provided below.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 12 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 12 . For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 12 only depicts network 4106, network nodes 4160 and 4160 b, and WDs 4110, 4110 b, and 4110 c (also referred to as mobile terminals). In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 4160 and wireless device (WD) 4110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 4106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node 4160 and WD 4110 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 12 , network node 4160 includes processing circuitry 4170, device readable medium 4180, interface 4190, auxiliary equipment 4184, power source 4186, power circuitry 4187, and antenna 4162. Although network node 4160 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 12 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 4160 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 4180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 4160 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 4160 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 4160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 4180 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 4162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 4160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 4160, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 4160.

Processing circuitry 4170 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 4170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4170 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 4170 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 4160 components, such as device readable medium 4180, network node 4160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 4170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4180 or in memory within processing circuitry 4170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry 4170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4180 or memory within processing circuitry 4170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 4170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4170 alone or to other components of network node 4160, but are enjoyed by network node 4160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 4180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 4170. Device readable medium 4180 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 4170 and, utilized by network node 4160. Device readable medium 4180 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 4170 and/or any data received via interface 4190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 and device readable medium 4180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 4190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 4160, network 4106, and/or WDs 4110. As illustrated, interface 4190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 4194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 4106 over a wired connection. Interface 4190 also includes radio front end circuitry 4192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 4162. Radio front end circuitry 4192 comprises filters 4198 and amplifiers 4196. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may be connected to antenna 4162 and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4162 and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4198 and/or amplifiers 4196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 4192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 4170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 4160 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 4192, instead, processing circuitry 4170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 4162 without separate radio front end circuitry 4192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 4172 may be considered a part of interface 4190. In still other embodiments, interface 4190 may include one or more ports or terminals 4194, radio front end circuitry 4192, and RF transceiver circuitry 4172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 4190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 4174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 4162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 4162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 4192 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 4162 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 4162 may be separate from network node 4160 and may be connectable to network node 4160 through an interface or port.

Antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry 4187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 4160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 4187 may receive power from power source 4186. Power source 4186 and/or power circuitry 4187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 4160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 4186 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 4187 and/or network node 4160. For example, network node 4160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 4187. As a further example, power source 4186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 4187. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node 4160 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 12 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 4160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 4160 and to allow output of information from network node 4160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 4160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 4110 includes antenna 4111, interface 4114, processing circuitry 4120, device readable medium 4130, user interface equipment 4132, auxiliary equipment 4134, power source 4136 and power circuitry 4137. WD 4110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 4110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 4110.

Antenna 4111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 4114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 4111 may be separate from WD 4110 and be connectable to WD 4110 through an interface or port. Antenna 4111, interface 4114, and/or processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 4111 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 4114 comprises radio front end circuitry 4112 and antenna 4111. Radio front end circuitry 4112 comprise one or more filters 4118 and amplifiers 4116. Radio front end circuitry 4112 is connected to antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 4111. In some embodiments, WD 4110 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 4112; rather, processing circuitry 4120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 4111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be considered a part of interface 4114. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4118 and/or amplifiers 4116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4111 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 4112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 4120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 4120 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 4110 components, such as device readable medium 4130, WD 4110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 4120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4130 or in memory within processing circuitry 4120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 4120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 4120 of WD 4110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 4124 and application processing circuitry 4126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 and baseband processing circuitry 4124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be a part of interface 4114. RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 4120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry 4120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 4120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4120 alone or to other components of WD 4110, but are enjoyed by WD 4110 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 4120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 4110, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium 4130 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 4120. Device readable medium 4130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 4120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4120 and device readable medium 4130 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 4132 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD 4110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 4132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 4110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 4132 installed in WD 4110. For example, if WD 4110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 4110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 4132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 4132 is configured to allow input of information into WD 4110, and is connected to processing circuitry 4120 to allow processing circuitry 4120 to process the input information. User interface equipment 4132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 4132 is also configured to allow output of information from WD 4110, and to allow processing circuitry 4120 to output information from WD 4110. User interface equipment 4132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 4132, WD 4110 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 4134 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 4134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 4136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD 4110 may further comprise power circuitry 4137 for delivering power from power source 4136 to the various parts of WD 4110 which need power from power source 4136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 4137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 4137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 4110 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 4137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 4136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 4136. Power circuitry 4137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 4136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 4110 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 13 illustrates a user Equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 42200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 4200, as illustrated in FIG. 13 , is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG. 13 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 13 , UE 4200 includes processing circuitry 4201 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 4205, radio frequency (RF) interface 4209, network connection interface 4211, memory 4215 including random access memory (RAM) 4217, read-only memory (ROM) 4219, and storage medium 4221 or the like, communication subsystem 4231, power source 4213, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 4221 includes operating system 4223, application program 4225, and data 4227. In other embodiments, storage medium 4221 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 13 , or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 13 , processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 4201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 4205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 4200 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 4205. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 4200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 4200 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 4205 to allow a user to capture information into UE 4200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIG. 13 , RF interface 4209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 4211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 4243 a. Network 4243 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 4243 a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 4211 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface 4211 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 4217 may be configured to interface via bus 4202 to processing circuitry 4201 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 4219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 4201. For example, ROM 4219 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 4221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 4221 may be configured to include operating system 4223, application program 4225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 4227. Storage medium 4221 may store, for use by UE 4200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 4221 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 4221 may allow UE 4200 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 4221, which may comprise a device readable medium.

In FIG. 13 , processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to communicate with network 4243 b using communication subsystem 4231. Network 4243 a and network 4243 b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 4243 b. For example, communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter 4233 and/or receiver 4235 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 4233 and receiver 4235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 4231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 4231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 4243 b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 4243 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 4213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 4200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 4200 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 4200. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 4202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 4201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 4201 and communication subsystem 4231. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 14 illustrates a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 4300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 4300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 4330. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 4320 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 4320 are run in virtualization environment 4300 which provides hardware 4330 comprising processing circuitry 4360 and memory 4390. Memory 4390 contains instructions 4395 executable by processing circuitry 4360 whereby application 4320 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 4300, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 4330 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 4360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 4390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 4395 or software executed by processing circuitry 4360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 4370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 4380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 4390-2 having stored therein software 4395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 4360. Software 4395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 4350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 4340 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 4340 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 4350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 4320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 4340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 4360 executes software 4395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 4350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 4350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 4340.

As shown in FIG. 14 , hardware 4330 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 4330 may comprise antenna 43225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 4330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 43100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 4320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 4340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 4340, and that part of hardware 4330 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 4340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 4340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 4330 and corresponds to application 4320 in FIG. 14 .

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 43200 that each include one or more transmitters 43220 and one or more receivers 43210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 43225. Radio units 43200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 4330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system 43230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 4330 and radio units 43200.

FIG. 15 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 15 , in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 4410, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 4411, such as a radio access network, and core network 4414. Access network 4411 comprises a plurality of base stations 4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 4413 a, 4413 b, 4413 c. Each base station 4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c is connectable to core network 4414 over a wired or wireless connection 4415. A first UE 4491 located in coverage area 4413 c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 4412 c. A second UE 4492 in coverage area 4413 a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 4412 a. While a plurality of UEs 4491, 4492 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 4412.

Telecommunication network 4410 is itself connected to host computer 4430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 4430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 4421 and 4422 between telecommunication network 4410 and host computer 4430 may extend directly from core network 4414 to host computer 4430 or may go via an optional intermediate network 4420. Intermediate network 4420 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 4420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 4420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 15 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 4491, 4492 and host computer 4430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 4450. Host computer 4430 and the connected UEs 4491, 4492 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 4450, using access network 4411, core network 4414, any intermediate network 4420 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 4450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 4450 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 4412 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 4430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 4491. Similarly, base station 4412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 4491 towards the host computer 4430.

FIG. 16 illustrates a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 16 . In communication system 4500, host computer 4510 comprises hardware 4515 including communication interface 4516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 4500. Host computer 4510 further comprises processing circuitry 4518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 4518 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 4510 further comprises software 4511, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 4510 and executable by processing circuitry 4518. Software 4511 includes host application 4512. Host application 4512 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 4530 connecting via OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and host computer 4510. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 4512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 4550.

Communication system 4500 further includes base station 4520 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 4525 enabling it to communicate with host computer 4510 and with UE 4530. Hardware 4525 may include communication interface 4526 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 4500, as well as radio interface 4527 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 4570 with UE 4530 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 16 ) served by base station 4520. Communication interface 4526 may be configured to facilitate connection 4560 to host computer 4510. Connection 4560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 16 ) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 4525 of base station 4520 further includes processing circuitry 4528, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 4520 further has software 4521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 4500 further includes UE 4530 already referred to. Its hardware 4535 may include radio interface 4537 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 4570 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 4530 is currently located. Hardware 4535 of UE 4530 further includes processing circuitry 4538, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 4530 further comprises software 4531, which is stored in or accessible by UE 4530 and executable by processing circuitry 4538. Software 4531 includes client application 4532. Client application 4532 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 4530, with the support of host computer 4510. In host computer 4510, an executing host application 4512 may communicate with the executing client application 4532 via OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and host computer 4510. In providing the service to the user, client application 4532 may receive request data from host application 4512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 4550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 4532 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 4510, base station 4520 and UE 4530 illustrated in FIG. 16 may be similar or identical to host computer 4430, one of base stations 4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c and one of UEs 4491, 4492 of FIG. 15 , respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 16 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 15 .

In FIG. 16 , OTT connection 4550 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 4510 and UE 4530 via base station 4520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE 4530 or from the service provider operating host computer 4510, or both. While OTT connection 4550 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 4570 between UE 4530 and base station 4520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 4530 using OTT connection 4550, in which wireless connection 4570 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the random access speed and/or reduce random access failure rates and thereby provide benefits such as faster and/or more reliable random access.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 4550 between host computer 4510 and UE 4530, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 4550 may be implemented in software 4511 and hardware 4515 of host computer 4510 or in software 4531 and hardware 4535 of UE 4530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 4550 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 4511, 4531 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 4550 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 4520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 4520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 4510′s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 4511 and 4531 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 4550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 17 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 15-16 . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 17 will be included in this section. In step 4610, the host computer provides user data. In substep 4611 (which may be optional) of step 4610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 4620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 4630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIG. 18 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 15-16 . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 18 will be included in this section. In step 4710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 4720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 19 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 15-16 . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 19 will be included in this section. In step 4810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 4820, the UE provides user data. In substep 4821 (which may be optional) of step 4820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 4811 (which may be optional) of step 4810, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 4830 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 4840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 15-16 . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 20 will be included in this section. In step 4910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 4920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 4930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

ABBREVIATIONS

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s).

1x RTT CDMA2000 1x Radio Transmission Technology

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5th Generation

ABS Almost Blank Subframe

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel

CA Carrier Aggregation

CC Carrier Component

CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU

CDMACode Division Multiplexing Access

CGI Cell Global Identifier

CIR Channel Impulse Response

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel

CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band

CQI Channel Quality information

C-RNTI Cell RNTI

CSI Channel State Information

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

DDDS DL Data Delivery Status

DL Downlink

DM Demodulation

DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DRX Discontinuous Reception

DTX Discontinuous Transmission

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel

DUT Device Under Test

E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)

E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre

ECGI Evolved CGI

eNB E-UTRAN NodeB

ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FFS For Further Study

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

gNB Base station in NR

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HO Handover

HSPA High Speed Packet Access

HRPD High Rate Packet Data

LOS Line of Sight

LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MAC Medium Access Control

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services

MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network

MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe

MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

MIB Master Information Block

MME Mobility Management Entity

MSC Mobile Switching Center

NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

NR New Radio

OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OSS Operations Support System

OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCell Primary Cell

PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDP Profile Delay Profile

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PGW Packet Gateway

PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator

PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RACH Random Access Channel

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology

RLM Radio Link Management

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRM Radio Resource Management

RS Reference Signal

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

SCH Synchronization Channel

SCell Secondary Cell

SDU Service Data Unit

SFN System Frame Number

SGW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

SON Self Optimized Network

SS Synchronization Signal

SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TOA Time of Arrival

TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

TTI Transmission Time Interval

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

UPCDL User Plane Control-Downlink

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival

UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WCDMA Wide CDMA

WLAN Wide Local Area Network

Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventive concepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”, “responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” (abbreviated “/”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, these elements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element/operation from another element/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”, “include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from the Latin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”, which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventive concepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as “circuitry,” “a module” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks may be added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/or blocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of inventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present inventive concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description. 

1. A method of operating a network node in a telecommunications network, the method comprising: measuring a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device operating in the telecommunications network, the first communication channel comprising an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT; predicting a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel, the second communication channel comprising an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT; determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput; and responsive to determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device, switching the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein predicting the second throughput comprises: determining operating conditions of the network node; and inputting the operating conditions into a machine learning model that outputs the second throughput.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the machine learning model is a random forest regressor model.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the operating conditions of the network node comprises: receiving a message from the communication device, the message including first channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel, the first channel-quality measurements including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; determining second channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel based on communication with the communication device via the first communication channel, the second channel-quality measurements including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; and determining the operating conditions of the network based on the first channel-quality measurements and the second channel-quality measurements.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first channel-quality measurements include at least one of a reference signal receive power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; and channel quality indicator, CQI of the first communication channel.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second channel-quality measurements include at least one of: a channel quality indicator, CQI; an uplink, UL, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; a ratio of transport blocks, TBs, on media access control, MAC, level scheduled in UL where the communication device was considered to be power limited to total number of TBs on MAC level scheduled in uplink; a reference signal received quality, RSRQ; a ratio of downlink, DL, physical resource block, PRB, usage to total available DL PRBs; a ratio of unsuccessful DL hybrid automatic repeat requests, HARQ, to a total number of DL HARQ; a ratio of unsuccessful UL HARQ, to a total number of UL HARQ; a reference signal receive power, RSRP; a ratio of unsuccessful UL radio link control, RLC, protocol data units, PDUs, to a total number of UL RLC PDUs; a ratio of UL PRB to a total available UL PRBs; a volume share of DL data for the communication device; a volume share of UL data from the communication device; a timing advance associated with the communication device; an UL RLC retransmission, RTX, intensity; a ratio of a volume of UL packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, data to a volume of DL PDCP data; a ratio of unsuccessful DL RLC PDUs to a total number of DL RLS PCUs; and a DL RLC RTX intensity.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises: determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput; and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding a predetermined threshold value.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting downlink data to the communication device via the first communication channel; responsive to transmitting the downlink data, measuring a downlink signal quality associated with the first communication channel; and responsive to measuring the downlink signal quality, determining that the downlink signal quality is below a predetermined threshold quality, wherein measuring the first throughput comprises measuring the first throughput in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality, and wherein predicting the second throughput comprises predicting the second throughput in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the downlink signal quality comprises an estimation of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises: determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput; determining a threshold value based on the SINR; and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding the threshold value. 10.-11. (canceled)
 12. A network node operating in a telecommunications network, the network node comprising: processing circuitry; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the network node to perform operations, the operations comprising: measuring a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device operating in the telecommunications network, the first communication channel comprising an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT; predicting a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel, the second communication channel comprising an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT; determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput; and responsive to determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device, switching the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.
 13. The network node of claim 12, wherein predicting the second throughput comprises: determining operating conditions of the network node; and inputting the operating conditions into a machine learning model that outputs the second throughput.
 14. The network node of claim 13, wherein the machine learning model is a random forest regressor model.
 15. The network node of claim 13, wherein determining the operating conditions of the network node comprises: receiving a message from the communication device, the message including first channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel, the first channel-quality measurements including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; determining second channel-quality measurements of the first communication channel based on communication with the communication device via the first communication channel, the second channel-quality measurements including channel coverage, channel quality, or channel integrity related measurements; and determining the operating conditions of the network based on the first channel-quality measurements and the second channel-quality measurements.
 16. The network node of claim 15, wherein the first channel-quality measurements include at least one of a reference signal receive power, RSRP; reference signal received quality, RSRQ; and channel quality indicator, CQI of the first communication channel.
 17. The network node of claim 15, wherein the second channel-quality measurements include at least one of: a channel quality indicator, CQI; an uplink, UL, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; a ratio of transport blocks, TBs, on media access control, MAC, level scheduled in UL where the communication device was considered to be power limited to total number of TBs on MAC level scheduled in uplink; a reference signal received quality, RSRQ; a ratio of downlink, DL, physical resource block, PRB, usage to total available DL PRB s; a ratio of unsuccessful DL hybrid automatic repeat requests, HARQ, to a total number of DL HARQ; a ratio of unsuccessful UL HARQ, to a total number of UL HARQ; a reference signal receive power, RSRP; a ratio of unsuccessful UL radio link control, RLC, protocol data units, PDUs, to a total number of UL RLC PDUs; a ratio of UL PRB to a total available UL PRBs; a volume share of DL data for the communication device; a volume share of UL data from the communication device; a timing advance associated with the communication device; an UL RLC retransmission, RTX, intensity; a ratio of a volume of UL packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, data to a volume of DL PDCP data; a ratio of unsuccessful DL RLC PDUs to a total number of DL RLS PCUs; and a DL RLC RTX intensity.
 18. The network node of claim 12, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises: determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput; and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding a predetermined threshold value.
 19. The network node of Claim 12, the operations further comprising: transmitting downlink data to the communication device via the first communication channel; responsive to transmitting the downlink data, measuring a downlink signal quality associated with the first communication channel; and responsive to measuring the downlink signal quality, determining (1030) that the downlink signal quality is below a predetermined threshold quality, wherein measuring the first throughput comprises measuring the first throughput in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality, and wherein predicting the second throughput comprises predicting the second throughput in response to determining that the downlink signal quality is below the predetermined threshold quality.
 20. The network node of claim 19, wherein the downlink signal quality comprises an estimation of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR, wherein determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device comprises: determining a ratio of the second throughput to the first throughput; determining a threshold value based on the SINR; and determining to switch the communication associated with communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the ratio exceeding the threshold value. 21.-22. (canceled)
 23. A network node operating in a telecommunications network adapted to perform operations, the operations comprising: measuring a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device operating in the telecommunications network, the first communication channel comprising an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT; predicting a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel, the second communication channel comprising an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT; determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput; and responsive to determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device, switching the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel.
 24. (canceled)
 25. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry of a network node operating in a telecommunications network, whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations comprising: measuring a first throughput associated with a first communication channel between the network node and a communication device operating in the telecommunications network, the first communication channel comprising an active communication channel that uses a first radio access technology, RAT; predicting a second throughput associated with a second communication channel between the network node and the communication device if communication associated with the communication device was switched from the first communication channel to the second communication channel, the second communication channel comprising an inactive communication channel that uses a second RAT; determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel based on the first throughput and the second throughput; and responsive to determining to switch the communication associated with the communication device, switching the communication associated with the communication device from the first communication channel to the second communication channel. 26.-28. (canceled) 